The advent of the modern, one-piece golf swing has placed a great deal of emphasis on (1) posture and address position and (2) ball position with respect to the feet and shoulders. The latter in particular has been found to promote movement of the club along the proper swing path through the ball in order to impart the desired or optimum flight characteristics to the ball.
Although instruction books or instructors may describe to the student the proper address position and alignment, most students are prone to be inconsistent in repeating the proper address and alignment for each swing unless and until it is practiced correctly through constant repetition. Compounding this problem are the adjustments one must make in progressing from the short irons up to the woods both in address and ball position. The major adjustments will occur in the four basic club categories; namely, short irons from 7 through wedge, medium irons from the 4 to 6-irons, long irons including the 2 and 3-irons, and the woods, principally the driver. Perhaps the most pervasive problem to one learning the game of golf is the visual distortion in lining up sideways to a target. For instance, a player may think he has lined up square to a target only to find that he has unwittingly shifted or has turned his shoulders or feet away from a square position, or has shifted one or both of his feet out of proper alignment with respect to the ball. Moreover, certain shots in golf require special adjustments, such as, for hitting into the wind or hitting sand wedge shots out of a trap.
Many golf practice aids have been devised in the past to overcome the foregoing and other problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,810 to J. T. Rydeck utilizes a single curved area for the club swing, an arrow for the trajectory, a line for shoulder alignment, and outlines for the feet but does not enable adjustment or offer guidance for the proper address and ball position for different clubs. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,352, to J. T. O'Brien, foot outlines are used so that the golfer can move back and forth for different club positions but there are no trajectory lines or swing paths. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,810, to W. R. Lorang, the ball can be moved along a straight line normal to the golfer, the feet repositioned for each shot, and the swing directed along a path, but the patent fails to indicate the desired trajectory of the ball, swing paths, or realignment of the feet for different shots.
Other patents of interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,248,431 to D. A. Barnes; 4,000,905 to M. J. Shirhall; 1,484,390 to Gibbs et al; and 2,707,638 to Manley. These patents either when considered alone or together fail to suggest the combination of proper foot and shoulder alignment with ball position and target-aiming arrows for the major golf club categories; nor do they disclose the use of arcuate swing path guideways and alignment guides for wedge shots and/or low trajectory golf shots.